Belize - last day

We woke up in Caye Caulker for the last time this trip. Although we will be happy to be home, we do love it here! We were up early and had breakfast, then spent some tidying up the house. Annette, the owner, came upstairs to tell us that she appreciated our business, and the fact that we were such low-maintenance and quiet tenants. That's likely because we are in typically in bed by 9 am! She told us that she is going to give us a reduced rate for our November stay, which we really appreciate! During our chat about our next trip, she managed to convinced us to fly in and out of Caye Caulker so that we can stay an extra day on the Caye. We expressed our concerns about the luggage weight limit and she looked confused. We explained that Tropic Air's website states that each bag can weigh no more than 30 pounds. She told us that she and John come with 2-50 pound bags each every time, and never have a problem. Warren, the owner of the house next door said that if they enforced that rule, they wouldn't have any passengers. Ok, we'll fly to the Caye next time, even though I'm still a little nervous about the small plane.

When we finished chatting with Annette, we were off to return the bikes to Kim's shop. We popped in and said goodbye to Kim and his two adorable Rottie's We also had him add an extra night to our November stay, since we won't have to come to Belize City a day early to accommodate the water taxi schedule! Kim said to let us know our international flight info once we have it and he will take care of booking our Tropic Air flights. Perfect! We had a nice leisurely stroll back to AV from the shop - taking in the sights one last time.

The taxi came for us at 11:35 am (only 5 minutes late, amazing!) and took us directly to the dock. We took the noon water taxi to Belize City and the hard seats confirmed for us our decision to fly to the island next time!

Caye Caulker taxi

Jason was waiting for us when we got off the boat (also arranged by Kim). We could see three cruise ships anchored just outside of the harbor, and the shops along the boardwalk were packed. Jason told us that there had been ships in port every day this week. Good news for the local economy!

It was about a 30-minute drive to the hotel that Andrew booked, the Black Orchid. Belize City is not reputed to be the safest place in the world so Andrew chose a hotel out near the airport. It's a very beautiful resort-type hotel set on the Belize River. There's a pool, but we likely won't get to use it as it is not heated and it's a bit cool and overcast today. The rooms are quite simple, but super clean and there are lots of good pillows on the bed. Good pillows are my number one criteria for determining whether or not I like a hotel, and will help me to overlook the fact that the walls are painted insane asylum green. There is also a nice restaurant that we can get dinner at, so we'll likely just chill around the grounds or in the room for the evening.

The hotel shuttle will take us to the airport at 10 am tomorrow to catch our noon flight. We have a 4+ hour layover in Miami, so won't arrive back in Minneapolis until about 10:30 pm. We're sad to leave, but will be happy to get home to see Harley! He's had a lovely vacation at Michelle & Ed's house, with the company of Daisy & Truman (dogs), Norman & Jane (cats), and two foster kittens. We are always so appreciative of the fact that they take such good care of our fur-kid while we're gone!

So, that's it for this trip. Don't forget to mark you calendars to join us back on Caye Caulker in November - either in person or here via the blog!